Inter-alpha-inhibitors in Hypoxic-Ischemic Brain Injury

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Neonatal hypoxia-ischemia (HI) remains a major cause of acute perinatal brain injury, leading ultimately to neurologic dysfunction manifesting as cerebral palsy, mental retardation, and epilepsy. Cerebral oxygen deprivation and/or reduced blood flow due to umbilical cord occlusion, prolonged labor, and/or intracranial hemorrhage produce an inflammatory response contributing to neuronal cell death. Unfortunately, current treatment and prevention strategies in newborns are lacking and inadequate. There are no currently available therapies to prevent/treat and/or attenuate brain damage in premature infants and the only available therapeutic intervention for full term infants is hypothermia, which is only partially protective. Inter-alpha Inhibitor Proteins (IAIP) are naturally derived molecules that have been shown to play an important role in modulating inflammatory response by down-regulating pro-inflammatory cytokines in several experimental models of newborn and a